Related Headlines

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - A valley man, whose 1-year-old son died after he was left unattended in a hot car for several hours, was sentenced to prison on Tuesday.

Thirty-one-year-old Brokale Marques was sentenced to 23 years in prison on murder and child abuse charges. Marques waived his right to a trial and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the prison sentence.

On Saturday, September 21, 2013, Scottsdale police responded to a 9-1-1 call of an unconscious 1-year-old child, who was hyperventilating. The child was transported to a hospital, where he later died.

Marques told police he was running late to work that day and didn't have time to get a babysitter for his son. He then left his son in the car with the engine running and the air conditioning on for two hours.

He then took his son to lunch and when he returned to work, he said he thought his vehicle was cool enough for his son to sit in the car with the engine off and windows rolled up.

The temperature that day was 98 degrees. When Marques returned to the car several hours later to check on his son, he found him unconscious and with vomit on this chest.

Investigators say Marques knew three weeks in advance he would have to work that day and babysitters, who had watched Marques' son previously, thought they were doing so on that day.

Police also say there were previous incidents where Marquez neglected to get proper care for his son.